Download Energyized Ecosystem Vocabulary List

Energized Ecosystems
Vocabulary List
Ecosystem: A community of living (biotic) organisms and non-living (abiotic) environmental factors working
together as a unit.
Energy: The ability to do work. In living organisms, energy can be found in a number of forms (stored energy,
mechanic energy, heat energy etc.). Energy changes form throughout an ecosystem and is vital for organisms
to grow, reproduce and develop.
Adaptation: The slow process of change in the physical or behavioral traits of a plant or animal due to some
environmental pressure.
Decomposer: An animal or plant that digests and breaks down dead material, converting it to nutrient for
other plants or animals.
Producer: A plant that produces its own food, some of which will be passed through the food web when the
plant is eaten or decomposes. Producers make their food through the process of photosynthesis, in which
light energy is transformed to chemical energy using water, light and carbon dioxide. This process also
produces oxygen as a byproduct.
Photosynthesis: The process by which green plants manufacture simple sugars in the presence of sunlight,
carbon dioxide, water and chlorophyll.
Consumer: An animal or organism that eats other living things to survive.
Herbivore: An organism that eats plant material to survive
Carnivore: An organism that eats meat or other organisms to survive.
Sunlight: Light energy produced from the sun. On earth’s surface, sunlight is either absorbed or reflected
back into the atmosphere.
Stomata: Tiny openings on the surface of leaves. These openings allow for gas exchange and release small
amounts of water vapor through transpiration.
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